Hudson - 18 Months

Hudson turned 18 months old yesterday. It is hard for me to look at him see that my baby boy that has transformed into a full blown toddler in the blink of an eye.  Since his ear infections are finally all cleared up he has become the happiest little kid and I just love his sweet personality.

He is strong-willed and stubborn and like Handley always says about him, "he wants what he wants" and lets us all know if things aren't going the way he likes.  Like today at his doctor's appointment.  He was not thrilled with the idea of having someone check him out.  So much so that he was kicking the doctor away and trying to rip the stethoscope away from his chest as she was listening.  Any questions she asked him he just said, "NO," and didn't cooperate in any shape or form.  He can be so dramatic and was totally doing the fake cry until the examination was over and then hew as giving her hugs and high fives.

He is a growing boy!
weight: 26 lbs. 8 oz. (60th percentile)
height: 33.5 inches (80th percentile)
head circumference: 19 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

At 18 months he:

• Loves throwing things in the trash.  Anytime he sees any type of trash he immediately looks for the closest trashcan to throw it out.  
• Is an extremely picky eater and I isn't willing to try new things. 
• Wants to be in the mix of things and copies a lot of things the girls do. 
• Loves his big sisters and gets so excited when it's time to pick them up from school. 
• Wants to play with them and with all the toys they are using at that very moment.  If he doesn't get it from them, he screams. 
• Asks to watch a movie every time we get in the car.  He loves Baby Signing Time (and knows lots of the signs) and some Baby Einstein movies.  
• Gets so excited about reading books before nap and bedtime. 
• Goes to bed SO easily.  
• Loves playing peek-a-boo.
• Wants to eat all the time!  He gets out of his seat from a meal and heads straight for the pantry saying, "snack, snack!"
• Thinks it is fun to brush his teeth and wash his hands.  He especially likes washing his hands in public restrooms because then he can get a paper towel and throw it away. 
• Will act shy around new people at first, but quickly warms up to them and can be very social with people he is comfortable with. 
• Has fun waving and saying "bye" to people.
• Pretends to talk on anything that resembles a phone. 
• Loves playing with golf clubs and tennis racquets. 
• Has an ever expanding vocabulary and while he is no where close to where the girls were at this age, he is learning tons of new words each day. He also does a lot of jibber jabber, which I just love hearing because he says it so seriously like he knows exactly what he is telling us.  
• Uses utensils fairly well and loves feeding himself oatmeal every morning. 

Today was pajama day for Handley's class and she was so excited to get to sleep in her pj's and wake-up ready for school.  They got to watch a movie and have hot chocolate, so it was a really big deal.  Harper was disappointed that she couldn't wear her pj's all day but her class will be doing the same thing in a few weeks.  

This evening Gigi and Papa came over for dinner and all the kids were thrilled to have them here.  We played outside for a little while even though it was cold since we were SO excited to have the sun shinning today after a week of rain.  The girls rode their bikes and since Handley is working on no training wheels, Papa showed her how it was done. Ha! 

I just loved this picture of Hudson with Gigi.  Even though he is becoming his own little person he still loves to cuddle and be held.  He ADORES her and this picture is so sweet to me.